An opportunity to educate and maybe get some positive publicity for BFIP? 
I couldn't help noticing the coincidence that one of their stores is in
Schaumburg, IL, home of LLL International HQ.
The following are forwarded messages from Colleen
<[log in to unmask]>  Please send replies to her, not me:
************************* FWD MSG # 1 ****************************
On March 16, 2001 at the IKEA store in San Diego,I was wearing my baby
in a sling and breastfeeding her when I walked up to a sales associate and
asked for assistance. She told me that she would not help me unless I cover
myself up. I told her that I was being discreet and that it should not be a
problem.
She became confrontational and refused to serve me and told me that I was
offensive, she could not concentrate and I was too distracting. I spoke with
her manager and then the store manager and they both defended their
employee's actions and her "right to her opinion."
I told the management that the store was breaking the law and violating my
rights, and he told me that he doesn't know "every little law." I then left the
premises without purchasing the merchandise I had in my cart.
I told the store manager that I will be pursuing this matter further and he
refused to assist me by giving me names of his supervisors.
Please let me know of any ideas you may have on ways to react to this
situation. I am outraged and I would like to see justice served in this
situation. I was treated inappropriately and I don't want this to happen to
anyone ever again in IKEA or anywhere else. I will be needing support for
the fight that is to come. Any advice you can offer will be greatly
appreciated.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE WILLING
TO SEND A LETTER OR PARTICIPATE IN
A NURSE-IN!

************************* FWD MSG # 2 ****************************
Thanks to everyone who is willing to send a letter on my behalf. I
have drafted a letter it is as follows: (For those who wish, I am in the
process of writing a "form" letter of support that can be signed and
sent, or you can use the following info to draft your own. email me for
more info [log in to unmask])
Colleen M. Gavin
[my address]
Rene Häusler, Store Manager
IKEA
2149 Fenton Parkway
San Diego, CA 92108
Dear Mr. Hausler,
I am writing to make you aware of an appalling incident that occurred
in the San Diego, CA USA store. This incident involved ILLEGAL
discrimination and customer abuse.
On March 16, 2001 at the IKEA store in San Diego, California I was
wearing my baby in a sling (baby carrier) and breastfeeding her while
shopping for a lambskin. I could not find a price on the merchandise,
and it was the only one left on display, so I walked up to a sales
associate named Cindy and asked for assistance. Cindy, the carpet
section manager, told me that she would not help me unless I cover
myself up. I told her that I was being discreet and that it should not be
an issue. She became confrontational and violated California
Assembly Bill 157, section 43.3 of the Civil Code by refusing to serve
me on the basis of me breastfeeding my child.
The IKEA representative, Cindy told me that I was offensive, she
could not concentrate and that I was too distracting. Since she refused
service on the basis of my daughter breastfeeding, I reminded her of
California State law that protects breastfeeding mothers and infants.
This did not effect the way she treated me, so I started to walk away.
She then became hostile and followed me, telling me that she could
follow me anywhere I take the lambskin rug. At this point, I asked her
to leave me alone, and I told her of my intent to write a letter to IKEA.
She told me that I would not need to write any letter because her
manager would talk to me. Then, I spoke with her manager, Steven,
who defended Cindy's actions and her "right to her opinion." Thus
Steven supported Cindy’s decision to violate my Civil Rights. He did
not offer an apology or express regret that I was harassed and
humiliated by this person for breastfeeding… a behavior that is
perfectly normal and natural. Nor did Steven acknowledge any wrong
doing by the IKEA sales representative, Cindy, although my civil
rights were broken. If my baby is hungry, should not she be able to
satisfy this basic need?
Next, I spoke with the Store Manager on duty. This person’s name is
Keith Hoffman. He had very little concern for the way in which Cindy
or Steven treated me, and told me that Cindy is a person, breastfeeding
makes her uncomfortable and that she has the right to refuse service to
anyone. Although Cindy can refuse service to anyone without reason,
she cannot LEGALLY refuse service on the basis of breastfeeding
because there are laws in place that prohibit this type of
discrimination. Why is Mr. Hoffman more concerned with Cindy’s
feelings than mine, when I was doing a normal, natural, nurturing
behavior? When do my feelings or my baby’s feelings matter?
I asked Mr. Hoffman if IKEA has a policy on breastfeeding in their
stores, and he replied, “You can do it, if you use discretion.” Is it
IKEA’s policy to put limitations on how an infant received nutrition? I
told Mr. Hoffman about the state and federal laws allowing me to
breastfeed, and told him that IKEA and their staff is breaking the law
and violating my rights. His response was, “I don’t know every little
law." Ignorance to the law does not make a person innocent from
breaking the law. I was shocked with his lack of empathy and his
insolent attitude. I assumed that when I finally got to speak with
someone in the upper management, that I would be treated
appropriately. Instead, Mr. Hoffman was just as defensive and
confrontational as Cindy was, if not worse. Since he made no
expression of regret, I finally demanded an apology. Mr. Hoffman was
angry and said with a sarcastic tone, “I am sorry if you feel you were
offended about something that happened to you.” I explained to him
that this feeble attempt at an apology was not good enough because he
did not express regret for what actually happened or take any
responsibility for the behavior of his employees. At this time, I told
Mr. Hoffman that I will be pursuing this matter further and asked for
the names of his manager and corporate officials. He initially refused
to give me the names of his supervisors, telling me that he was the top
management, and that he was my only option. Mr. Hoffman said that
the San Diego IKEA was a franchise and there were no corporate
officials to contact. That was when I asked for the franchise operators’
name and he reluctantly gave me the owner, operator’s name, Rene
Häusler. The reason I am telling you this is to help you realize how
rude and haughty this “on duty” manager was acting when I confronted
him with my compliant.
This entire incident is very disturbing to me, but the most disturbing
thing about the entire incident is that breastfeeding one’s infant in
IKEA is an issue at all. I thought that, considering IKEA was a
Swedish company, that healthy attitudes about breastfeeding would be
adopted, like in most European countries. Obviously, I was wrong
about IKEA. The reason I am certain of this is because, on your
website, in the description of your restaurant features, IKEA states, “A
children’s menu and highchairs might be expected, but did you know
that you can also purchase baby food and that you can heat your baby
bottle in the IKEA restaurant?” It is clear from this statement that
IKEA would prefer its customers to bottle-feed their infants.
You may not know that, in regards to breastfeeding, the American
Academy of Pediatrics has released the following statement:
Extensive research, especially in recent years, documents diverse and
compelling advantages to infants, mothers, families, and society from
breastfeeding and the use of human milk for infant feeding. These
include health, nutritional, immunologic, developmental,
psychological, social, economic, and environmental benefits.
Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding and is species-
specific; all substitute feeding options differ markedly from it. The
breastfed infant is the reference or normative model against which all
alternative feeding methods must be measured with regard to growth,
health, development, and all other short- and long-term outcomes.
Epidemiological research shows that human milk and breastfeeding of
infants provide advantages with regard to general health, growth, and
development, while significantly decreasing risk for a large number of
acute and chronic diseases.

Additionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
breastfeeding babies a minimum of one full year and the UNICEF and
the World Health Organization recommend breastfeeding for a full 2
years due to the innumerable benefits of breastfeeding on both mother
and child. This is only a brief synopsis of the benefits of
breastfeeding. Due to time and space constraints, I will not go into
detail about the detrimental effects of bottle-feeding and the use of
formula.
Although it should not be necessary to have laws protecting mother
and child while breastfeeding, because of stores that discriminate,
there are laws in place to protect my right to meet my baby’s
nutritional needs. The applicable law for California is as follows:
CALIFORNIA Assembly Bill #157, 1997
Adds Section 43.3 to the Civil Code, which states "Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, a mother may breastfeed her child in any
location, public or private, except the private home or residence of
another, where the mother and child are authorized to be present."
This incident was very emotionally and psychologically traumatic for
my baby, my elderly mother, and me and sister who were shopping
with me on this day. We actually just enjoyed a celebratory lunch for
my birthday when we decided to experience IKEA for the first time.
We had no idea that we would encounter such insulting behavior.
Since shopping at IKEA, I have been nervous and stressed every time
I breastfeed my daughter in a public place, wondering if I am going to
be accosted by someone like I was on March 16, 2001 at IKEA. This
type of stress can effect a mother’s milk supply and hence bring an end
to the breastfeeding relationship, causing insurmountable long-term
damage to the physical health, emotional well-being, and cognitive
growth of my child. Luckily, I have been strong enough to suffer
through this prejudice. I am now making an attempt to recover from the
humiliation, degradation, and insulting behavior that I encountered on
this day.
IKEA broke the law and violated my rights, and I fully intend to
pursue this matter legally. I am currently seeking legal counsel in
regards to this blatant disregard of the law and the violation of a
woman’s right to breastfeed in public.
Sincerely,
Colleen M. Gavin
Cc:Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA Honorary Chairman
Anders Dahlvig, IKEA Group President and Chief Executive Officer
Hans Gydell, IKEA Chief Financial Officer
Jan Kjellman, President and CEO, IKEA North America
Pernille Spiers-Lopez, President and CEO, IKEA North America
(effecive 6/01)

The address for the North American HQ is
IKEA North America
496 W Germantown Pike
Plymouth Commons
Plumouth Meeting
Philadelphia, PA 19462
The IKEA International Address is
IKEA International
Ny Strandvej 21
DK-3050
Humlebaek
Denmark

****************** Additional information ***************

Toll free number: (800) 434-4532

IKEA US addresses:
Ikea, Baltimore
8352 Honeygo Blvd
Baltimore, MD 21236
Ikea, Burbank
600 N San Fernando Blvd
Burbank, CA 91502
Ikea, Carson
20700 South Avalon Blvd
Carson, CA 90746
Ikea, Chicago
1800 E McConnor Parkway,
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Ikea, East Bay
4400 Shellmound St
Emeryville, CA 94608
Ikea, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Center
Elizabeth, NJ 07202
Ikea, Houston
7810 Katy Freeway at Antoine
Houston, TX 77024
Ikea, Industry
17621 E Gale Ave
City of Industry, CA 91748
Ikea, Long Island
1100 Broadway Mall
Hicksville, NY 11801
Ikea, Philadelphia
Plymouth Meeting Mall
498 W Germantown Pike
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Ikea, Pittsburgh
Town Centre
2001 Park Manor Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15205
Ikea, San Diego
2149 Fenton Parkway
San Diego, CA 92108
Ikea, Seattle
600 SW 43rd St
Renton, WA 980955
Ikea, Tustin
2982 El Camino Real Blvd
Tustin, CA 92680
Ikea, Washington
Potomac Mills Mall
2700 Potomac Circle
Suite 888
Woodbridge, VA 22192

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